Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Guest editorial - by Phillip Edward Alexander

If the political leader of the People's National Movement were to rewrite a well known Christmas Carol, it might sound something like this:

It's that time of year when the world falls in love but not over here, here we Grinch. Keep your hampers,Keep your oil and flour too...

And those cheap chinese toysAre not for our girls and boys Wishing you would keepAway from our people please...

Why is it that every year he has to sing the same old tired refrain of wanting nothing from nobody for 'his' people?

And how exactly have they earned this dubious and unenviable distinction? Because they live in a constituency represented by a PNM candidate?

Surely in circumstances of dire poverty where every little bit helps and a help goes a long way to hear your quote unquote 'leader' turning down much needed food and toys on your behalf from in the comfort of his air conditioned multi million dollar German automobile must hurt a bit, especially on Christmas morning where, minus the bountiful hamper that others got, or the food cards, or the toys, or the discounted rice, oil and flour you are left to stare into the faces of your hungry family staring right back at you as if to ask why is this who we are?

Especially when most people know that this is a wealthy country and there is at least some to be had by all?

No Dr. keith Rowley needs to drop this Scrooge Mc Grinch act and allow the people of Morvant, Laventille, Beetham, Sea Lots, Covigne, Richplain and Bagatelle to name a few to benefit from the sharing that takes place at Christmas time, if only to step out of the way so that his quote unquote 'people' could have a better Christmas than they did last year.

No one is asking you to dip your hands into your pockets Dr. Rowley, and they are not even asking for the PNM or the PNM's financiers to treat the poor of your communities with a little love and generosity at Christmas time, all they are asking for is that the lot of you get out of the way so that others who want to bless them can be allowed to do so.

Because:

It's that time of year,When the world falls in loveEvery song you hear,Seems to say,Merry ChristmasMay your New Year dreams come true

And this song of mine,In three quarter timeWishes you and yoursA happy Christmas too

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About Me

JAI PARASRAM retired from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Nov. 30, 2013 after a quarter of a century at the Corporation. He was a member of the team that inaugurated Newsworld, the CBC's 24-hour cable news service. He produced and edited the first newscast for the service on July 31, 1989. He was a Producer on the team that won a GEMINI AWARD for the coverage of the SwissAir disaster in Nova Scotia in 1998. Jai left Newsworld in 1998 and established Jyoti Communication. His main projects have involved training journalists, program development for radio and television, corporate imaging, event management and media projects for clients in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. Jai returned to the CBC in 2003 and worked with the online service CBC.ca until his retirement. Jai's career began in his native Trinidad in 1972. He has worked mostly in television, as a reporter, editor, producer, interviewer, news anchor and executive producer. He has won several awards for excellence in journalism and broadcasting. Jai, who is also a documentary producer, holds a Master of Journalism degree (MJ) from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.